Wipes dispenser with a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture

ABSTRACT

Provided is a wipes dispenser including a dispenser having a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture, a pouch containing an interleaved stack of wipes or a rolled perforated web of wipes contained within the dispenser and accessed through the dispensing aperture, and a mounting element for mounting the dispenser to a mounting surface. The wipes dispenser may further include a pivotable dispensing lid that closes against the refill door and seal the dispensing aperture to protect the wipes from the outside environment when the wipes dispenser is not in use.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/870,656, filed Jun. 16, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to wipes dispensers, and, moreparticularly, to an improved wipes dispenser that includes awide-mouthed dispensing aperture through which a front wipe of a stackor roll of wipes, disposed within the dispenser, may be easily graspedby a user.

2. Description of the Related Art

Dry, wet or partially wetted cleaning wipes are known in the art. Othersimilar sheet-like substrates such as towels, sponges, pads, napkins,diapers etc are also known in the art. Such items have been packaged ina number of different ways.

For example cleaning wipes, tissues, napkins, etc. were often packagedin a standard dispenser box, sometimes with a removable or hinged lid.Such packaging, however, presented the problem of locating, grasping andremoving the first or front wipe or other substrate from a relativelysmall, narrow dispensing aperture at the front of the dispenser packagethrough which the wipes were typically dispensed.

Attempts were made in the prior art to address this problem by stackingindividual wipes or other substrates horizontally, interweaving each ofthe substrates with the preceding and subsequent substrate, sometimesreferred to as interleaving the wipes. For example, containers ordispensers for wet wipes have been available wherein each of the wetwipes stacked in the container was arranged in a folded configurationsuch as a c-folded, z-folded or quarter-folded configuration well knownto those of ordinary skill in the art. A web of perforated wipes, formedas a roll and separated at the dispensing aperture when needed, has alsobeen used to address this problem.

In use, a stack of interleaved wipes was disposed within the interior ofthe dispenser. The leading edge of the front wipe was next pre-threadedthrough the narrow dispensing aperture. The leading edge of the frontwipe was thereby exposed to the exterior of the dispenser through thedispensing aperture. The wipes were folded in such a way that thetrailing edge surface of each wipe was interleaved with the leading edgesurface of its next adjacent wipe in the stack. When, by application ofan extraction force in a dispensing action by a user, the front wipe waspulled by its exposed leading edge away from the dispensing aperture,frictional interleaving forces at the interleaved surfaces caused thenext wipe, adjacent to and interleaved with the front wipe in the stack,to drag along with the front wipe through the dispensing aperture.

When the leading edge of the next wipe was exposed to the exterior ofthe dispenser, the front wipe and the next wipe unfolded and thusseparated. The extraction force supplied by the user overcame thefrictional interleaving force at the interleaved wipe surfaces and thefrictional aperture force of the wipe passing through the restrictingnarrow dispensing aperture. By stacking the substrates or by using aperforated roll of wipes, when the user removed a substrate, the nextsubstrate was made to “pop-up” for easy grasping the next time a wipewas needed. Thus, the lead edge of the next wipe remained exposed or“popped-up” to the exterior of the dispenser after the front wipe wasextracted from the dispenser by the user. The dispensing action wasrepeated on the next wipe, which was then at the front of the stack ofwipes.

Typically, in the prior art, in a pop-up dispensing system, wipes weredispensed through a narrow slit-like dispensing aperture. A dispensingaperture so configured provided a frictional dispensing aperture force,which opposed the extraction force supplied by the user to extract awipe, as the wipes surfaces frictionally engaged the slit edges of theprior art dispensing aperture.

However, these prior art “pop-up” dispensing systems could only besuccessfully used when the substrate was sufficiently flexible to clearthe restricting narrow dispensing aperture and where the dispensingaperture offered sufficient resistance to avoid “roping” of theinterleaved wipes or perforated wipes. If the dispensing aperture didnot sufficiently resist the extraction of a wipe, the interleaving ofthe wipes caused multiple wipes to be dispensed, i.e. the wipes “roped”.Further, if the dispensing aperture offered insufficient resistance, theexposed lead edge of the front wipe could fall back into the interior ofthe dispenser through the dispensing aperture. Roping and fall-back in arolled web of perforated wipes was also likely when insufficientfrictional dispensing aperture force at the dispensing aperture allowedmultiple wipes to dispense without singulation by separation of thewipes at the wipes perforations. On the other hand, if the dispenseroffered excessive resisting dispensing aperture force, the exposedleading edge of the next wipe to be dispensed could fail to pop-up,thereby necessitating re-threading of the leading edge of the front wipethrough the dispensing aperture.

As noted, in the prior art, dispensing aperture force was achieved byconfiguring the dispensing aperture as a narrow slit. The top and bottomedges of the narrow slit-type aperture contacted and frictionallyengaged respective top and bottom surfaces of the wipes duringdispensing, thus providing a frictional resistance to the wipe as it wasdispensed.

Wide-mouthed dispensing apertures have not been attempted on pop-upwipes since they provided insufficient dispensing aperture force toavoid wipe roping. With wide-mouthed dispensing apertures, the top andbottom surface of the wipe may not contact the respective top and bottomedges of the dispensing aperture during dispensing. Thus, dispensingaperture force did not overcome the interleaving force between wipes inthe stack of interleaved wipes and roping resulted. Still further, awide mouth dispensing aperture lead to faster moisture loss from moistwipes than a narrow slit-type dispensing aperture.

However, with a narrow slit-type dispensing aperture, a user could noteasily grasp the front wipe to extract it through the narrow dispensingaperture. Typically, with a narrow slit-type dispensing aperture, a userneeded to pre-thread the front wipe from the back of the dispensingaperture to the front outside surface of the dispenser. In addition, ifthe wipes were insufficiently flexible, the wipes bunched and knottedwhen extracted through the narrow slit-type dispensing aperture.Finally, the narrow slit-type dispensing aperture of prior artdispensers tended to act as a strainer that squeezed off non-negligibleamounts of fluid from pre-moistened wipes as they passed through thenarrow dispensing aperture. To compensate for this, more cleaningsolution was needed to impregnate the wipe material.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved structures and processes forthe dispensing of wipes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a wipesdispenser having a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture is provided. In oneembodiment, the wipes dispenser includes a dispenser that defines aninterior pouch space configured to receive a pouch containing a stack orperforated web of wipes. In one embodiment, the stack or web of wipes isdirectly disposed within the interior space and the pouch containing thewipes is eliminated.

With the present invention, there is no need to first separatelypre-thread the front wipe through the dispensing aperture beforedispensing. The wipes dispenser provides for easy pop-up dispensing ofwipes, without wipes “roping”, i.e. unintended dispensing of multiplewipes, or “fall-back”, i.e., failure of the next wipe to pop-up orreturn of an exposed portion of a wipe to the space within the dispenserbehind the dispensing aperture. Further, the wipes dispenser of thepresent invention aids in mininizing gathering, knotting and bunching ofthe wipes, sometimes referred to as roving of the wipes, duringdispensing. Further still, the wipes dispenser of the present inventionaids in minimizing drying of wet wipes during dispensing throughmoisture squeeze-out.

In one embodiment, provided is a wipes dispenser comprising a base, anda refill door coupled to the base. The refill door defines a dispensingaperture therethrough. The dispensing aperture comprises a center lobethrough which a user may readily grasp a front wipe from the stack orweb of wipes disposed within the dispenser. The dispensing aperturefurther comprises at least one side lobe in communication with thecenter lobe at a side edge of the center lobe. The refill door furtherdefines at least one top gripper projecting from a top edge of thedispensing aperture and at least one corresponding bottom gripperprojecting from a bottom edge of the dispensing aperture opposite thetop gripper. The top gripper and the corresponding bottom grippercooperate to define a gap through which the wipes pass when extractedfrom the wipes dispenser by a user. When extracted, the wipes abuttinglycontact and frictionally engage the top and bottom grippers, which exerta gap force opposing the extraction force exerted by a user whenextracting a wipe from the dispenser.

In one embodiment the base of the wipes dispenser has a base outsidesurface that is coupled to a mounting element attached to a mountingsurface. Alternatively, the wipes dispenser is permanently attacheddirectly to the mounting surface with conventional fasteners such asscrews or permanent high tack adhesives. The mounting element, and thusthe wipes dispenser, is attachable in a variety of orientations and to avariety of fixed mounting surfaces, such as, for example, a wall, thedoor or bottom surface of a cabinet, a mirror surface, the under-countersurface of a counter top, etc. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser isreleasably mounted to a surface by means of stretch release adhesivetape. The stretch release adhesive tape may have a range of dimensionsas well as a range of adhesive formulations.

The dispenser may be attached to a variety surfaces, such as, forexample, painted surfaces, tile, finished wood, particleboard, etc. Thepresent invention is sufficiently flexible to fit in a variety ofenvironments, including high humidity environments, such as bathrooms ornear kitchen sinks, or environments subject to low temperatures, such asgarages and outdoor work/tool sheds.

In one embodiment, the dispenser includes a wide-mouthed dispensingaperture that is oriented substantially parallel to the attachmentsurface of the dispenser, and which is configured to provide easy andreliable pop-up dispensing of single wipes from a stack of wipescontained in the dispenser. The dispensing aperture may be covered by adispensing lid that pivots opens for easy access through the dispensingaperture to the interior of the dispenser.

In one embodiment, a pop-up stack of wipes, which is typically packagedin a flexible pouch, is placed within a pouch space at the inside of thedispenser. The pouch includes a pouch aperture through the front of thewipes pouch to the stack of wipes. A removable adhesive label covers thedispensing aperture to prevent contamination of the wipes prior to useand to prevent dryout of wet wipes. In other embodiments, wipes can beprovided on a roll, where the wipes are connected consecutively in aperforated web. Wipes, either stacked or rolled, may also be disposeddirectly within the interior of the dispenser without the use of apouch.

In use, in one embodiment, the pouch of wipes is inserted into theinterior pouch space of the dispenser via the refill door that pivotsopen from the base of the dispenser. In one embodiment, the refill dooris configured with a refill door holder that limits the extent to whichthe refill door can open. The refill door holder allows a user to placethe pouch into the container using only one human hand, i.e., there isno need to hold the front face of the door open while placing the pouchinto the dispenser.

A variety of wipe substrates and wet formulations can be used with thedispenser. Wipes may be of a variety of dimensions, substrate densities,folded stack dimensions, wipe-stack counts or stack weights. Thedispenser may be used with dry, wet or partially wetted wipes.

Thus, by the present invention, a user may conveniently place, load, andextract wipes wherever and whenever generally needed or useful. Further,the wipes dispenser may be releasably mounted such that wipes may bedispensed from any direction and from a variety of orientations chosenby the user. Finally, the wipes dispenser system may be easily removedor relocated when desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and others will be readily appreciated by theskilled artisan from the following description of illustrativeembodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a wipes dispenserhaving a dispensing lid shown in a closed position;

FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipesdispenser shown in FIG. 1A, but with the dispensing lid shown in an openposition to expose a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 1C shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipesdispenser shown in FIG. 1A, in which a refill door is shown in an openposition to expose a wipes pouch;

FIG. 1D shows the wipes dispenser shown in FIG. 1C, with the refill doorand dispensing lid removed for a more complete view of the wipes pouch;

FIG. 1E shows a perspective view of the refill door taken toward arefill door inside surface of the refill door opposite the refill dooroutside surface shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 shows a close-up view of the portion of FIG. 1B circled in dottedline, showing a corresponding top gripper and bottom gripper set of thewipes dispenser; and

FIGS. 3A-3D show a series of schematic edge outlines of alternativedispensing apertures in accordance with the present invention.

Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like numerals referto like parts throughout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, in oneembodiment, provided is a wipes dispenser having a wide-mouthed wipesdispensing aperture configuration. The wipes dispenser provides forconvenient and easy dispensing of wipes in a variety of environments andin various orientations of the wipes dispenser.

In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser of the present invention includesa base and a refill door pivotably or releasably coupled to the base.When the refill door is placed in a closed position relative to thebase, a pouch space is defined by the inside surfaces of the base andthe refill door.

In one embodiment, a wipes dispenser of the present invention furtherincludes a replaceable pouch, which contains a stack of singulated,folded, interleaved wipes or a laterally perforated web of wipes. Inuse, the refill door of the dispenser is placed in an open positionrelative to the base. The pouch is placed between the base and therefill door. When the refill door is next placed in a closed positionrelative to the base, the pouch, and the web or stack of webs containedtherein, is disposed within the pouch space. When the pouch is disposedwithin the pouch space of the dispenser, a wide-mouthed pouch aperturethrough the front surface of the pouch aligns with a wide-moutheddispensing aperture through the front outside surface of the refilldoor.

Thus, wipes are readily accessible to a user. The dispensing and pouchapertures are wide enough to allow grasping of the front wipe throughthe dispensing aperture and pouch aperture. After the front wipe iswithdrawn from the dispenser, the leading edge of subsequent wipes isexposed through the dispensing aperture by “pop-up” action.

When it is desired to first access wipes in the pouch or the stack orweb of wipes disposed directly within the interior pouch space of thedispenser, the dispensing lid is released and positioned open relativeto the refill door, thereby making wipes in the pouch directlyaccessible through the wide-mouthed dispensing and pouch apertureswithout first pre-threading the front wipe through the dispenser andpouch apertures. It is envisioned that any means of pivotally orotherwise releasably coupling dispensing lid 108 to refill door 102,such as a living hinge or pin-in hole hinge, may be used in the presentinvention.

When all the wipes in the pouch have been removed, the refill door isplaced in an open position and the empty pouch removed from thedispenser. A new pouch is placed in the pouch space between the base andthe refill door and the refill door is again positioned closed, therebydisposing the new pouch within the pouch space.

In one embodiment, a dispensing lid pivotably coupled to the refill dooris placed in a closed position relative to the refill door to seal thedispensing aperture when the wipes dispenser is not in use. In oneembodiment the wipes dispenser is mounted to a fixed surface such as,for example, painted surface, tile, finished wood, particleboard, etc.In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser is releasably mounted to thefixed surface with, for example, stretch release adhesive tape ordouble-sided foam tape. In other embodiments, the wipes dispenser systemis more permanently mounted with, for example, permanent high tackadhesives, screws, permanently attached brackets, and the like.

More particularly, FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of one embodiment ofa wipes dispenser 10 having a dispensing lid 108 shown in a closedposition. Dispenser 10 includes a base 100. In one embodiment, a refilldoor 102 is pivotably coupled to base 100. It is envisioned that anymeans of pivotally coupling refill door 102 to base 100, such as aliving hinge or pin-in hole hinge, may be used in the present invention.

Refill door 102 may be placed and releasably locked in a closed positionrelative to base 100, or refill door 102 may be released from thelocked, closed position and placed in an open position relative to base100, as shown in FIG. 1C. Any manner of releasable fitment or fasteningelement, well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, may be usedto releasably lock refill door 102 with base 100. When refill door 102is placed in a closed position, a refill door inside surface 140 (FIG.1E) of refill door 102 and a base inside surface 133 (FIG. 1C) of base100 define a pouch space between refill door 102 and base 100 at theinterior of wipes dispenser 10.

As shown in FIG. 1A, dispenser 10 further includes a dispensing lid 108having a dispensing lid outside surface 110 and a dispensing lid insidesurface 122 (FIG. 1B). In this embodiment, dispensing lid 108 ispivotably coupled to a refill door outside surface 112 of refill door102, such that, dispensing lid 108 may be placed and releasably lockedin a closed position relative to refill door 102. Alternatively,dispensing lid 108 may be released from the locked closed position andplaced in an open position relative to refill door 102 (FIG. 1B). It isenvisioned that any means of pivotally coupling dispensing lid 108 torefill door 102, such as a living hinge or pin-in hole hinge, may beused in accordance with the present invention. In another embodiment,dispensing lid 108 is releasable coupled to refill door 102 and may becompletely removed by a user.

FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipesdispenser 10 shown in FIG. 1A, but with dispensing lid 108 pivoted in anopen position to expose a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture 114 inaccordance with the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1B, refill door102 defines dispensing aperture 114 through refill door 102 from refilldoor inside surface 140 (FIG. 1E) to refill door outside surface 112.Dispensing aperture 114 comprises a generally ovoid shaped center lobe116C and one or more generally ovoid shaped side lobes in communicationwith center lobe 116C. In one embodiment, at a first side of center lobe116C is a left, i.e., first, side lobe 116L in communication with centerlobe 116C. At a second opposite side of center lobe 116C, is a right,i.e., second side lobe 116R in communication with center lobe 116C. Inthis embodiment, dispensing aperture 114 is advantageously configured asa wide-mouthed opening through dispensing door 102 such that a user mayreadily grasp the front wipe (not shown) closest dispensing aperture 114from a stack or web of wipes (not shown) contained in a wipes pouch 130(FIG. 1C). It is not necessary to first pre-thread the front wipethrough dispensing aperture 114. The overall contour of dispensingaperture 114 presents numerous contact points that will readilyfrictionally engage and grip the surface the wipe as a user extracts thewipe from dispenser 10.

The shape and size of the dispensing aperture 114 is configured suchthat a user may readily grasp the front wipe adjacent dispensingaperture 114 from the stack of wipes in wipes pouch 130 without the needto separately pre-thread the front wipe through dispensing aperture 114.As described more fully below, in one embodiment the over-all dispensingaperture length L of dispensing aperture 114 is about one half the widthof the wipes contained in wipes pouch 130.

The front wipe of the stack of wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 isgrasped through dispensing aperture 114 or, more particularly, throughcenter lobe 116C of dispensing aperture 114. As the front wipe isextracted, the left edge portion of the front wipe is dragged throughleft lobe 116L and passes through a left gap 270L. Likewise, as thefront wipe is extracted, the right edge portion of the front wipe isdragged through right lobe 116R and passes through a right gap 270R. Asthe left and right portions of the front wipe are drawn through left andright lobes 116L and 116R, respectively, roving of the front wipe isameliorated. The left and right side portion of wipes are not forcedthrough the narrow slit-type dispensing aperture opening of the priorart that caused bunching and knotting of the wipes.

In one embodiment, the dispensing aperture width W is about 2.0 inches,measured from the top edge to the bottom edge of dispensing aperture114. The dispensing aperture length L is about 3.5 inches, measured fromthe left side edge to the right side edge of dispensing aperture 114.Dispensing aperture 114 is configured such that, when grasping a wipefor the first time, center lobe 116C of dispensing aperture 114 is wideenough to let through most sizes of a human index finger and thumb tograsp the wipe from the stack or roll of wipes disposed within the pouchspace of wipes dispenser 10. Conveniently, when mounted to fixed surfaceS (FIG. 1A), wipes may be extracted from wipes dispenser 10 with onehuman hand without the need to handle wipes pouch 130 with bothhands—one to hold wipes pouch 130 and one to extract a wipe from wipespouch 130. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser 10 is releasablymounted to fixed surface S with, for example, a stretch release adhesivetape 146 or double-sided foam tape. In other embodiments, wipesdispenser 10 is permanently mounted to fixed surface S with, forexample, permanent high tack adhesives, screws, permanently attachedbrackets, and the like.

A variety of dispensing aperture dimensions is possible, so long as thedispensing aperture 114 satisfies the requirement of allowing graspingof wipes through dispensing aperture 114, or more particularly in theembodiment shown in the figures, through center lobe 116C of dispensingaperture 114, without the need to pre-thread the front wipe throughdispensing aperture 114. Dispensing aperture sizes may range from, forexample, 0.75 inches by 4.5 inches to 2.5 inches by 3.0 inches(dispensing aperture width W by dispensing aperture length L).

Alternatively, the dispensing aperture size can vary according to thewipes stack footprint that is formed, such that the dispensing aperturesize is in relation to the wipe stack footprint. For example, with afolded wipes stack length of 7.0 inches, dispensing aperture length L ofdispensing aperture 114 is set at 3.5 inches, one half the length of afolded wipe in the wipes stack. Similarly, with a folded stack width of4.0 inches, dispensing aperture width W of dispensing aperture 114 isset at 2.0 inches, one half the width of a folded wipe in the wipesstack. For a wipe of about 18 mils thickness, the ratio of dispensingaperture length L to folded wipe length of about one half isadventageous in avoiding wipes bunching. However, the dimensions andconfiguration of dispensing aperture depends on the thickness, size, andother parameters of the wipes, such as, material of construction,frictional properties, elasticity, and nature of any wetting compound onthe wipes.

In one embodiment, refill door 102 defines a pair of appendages,sometimes called top, e.g., first, grippers 118T, projecting inward fromthe top edge of dispensing aperture 114 toward its center. Thedirectional terms “lower” and “upper”, “left” and “right”, “up”, “down”,and the like are used herein for ease of description in conjunction withthe drawings. These terms are not meant to indicate that the structuralcomponents of the present invention must have a specific orientationexcept when specifically set forth below.

Refill door 102 further defines another pair of appendages, sometimescalled bottom, e.g., second, grippers 118B. Each bottom gripper 118Bprojects inward from the lower edge of dispensing aperture 114 towardits center. Each bottom gripper 118B is opposite a corresponding one ofthe pair of top grippers 118T. As described more fully below withreference to FIG. 2, each corresponding set of top grippers 118T andbottom grippers 118B cooperate to define left and right gaps 270L and270R through which, respectively, left and right portions of the wipespass when extracted from wipes dispenser 10.

In other embodiments, dispensing aperture 114 may have shapes other thanthe three-lobe shaped configuration shown in FIG. 1B. For example,refill door 102 may define a two-lobed dispensing aperture 114 with anoval, ovoid, round, rectangular or square shaped center lobe and onlyone side lobe in communication with the center lobe. Otherconfigurations of dispensing aperture 114 will be readily apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art.

FIG. 1C shows a perspective view of the embodiment of wipes dispenser 10shown in FIG. 1A, in which refill door 102 is shown in an open positionto expose wipes pouch 130. In one embodiment, refill door 102 ispivotable relative to base 100 by means of a living hinge (not shown),well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, thus allowing base 100and refill door 102 to be integrally formed in one piece. In anotherembodiment, refill door 102 is pivotable relative to base 100 by anyhinged means, such that refill door 102 and base 100 are formed in twoor more pieces and joined along the hinge means. In another embodimentrefill door 102 is releasably coupled to base 100 by any manner ofreleasable fitment or fastening elements well known to those of ordinaryskill in the art.

Dispenser 10, and more particularly refill door 102, base 100, adispensing lid 108 may be formed, integrally or separately, from avariety of materials, such as, for example, polypropylene (PP), highdensity polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET),polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and otherengineered plastics, and may be formed with a variety of fabricationtechnologies, such as, for example, injection molding. The othercomponents of dispenser 10 may be similarly formed.

In use, refill door 102 of dispenser 10 is opened and wipes pouch 130,containing a web or stack of wipes (not shown), is positioned betweenrefill door inner surface 140 (FIG. 1E) of the refill door 102 and baseinner surface 133 (FIG. 1D) of base 100. When refill door 102 is nextplaced in a closed relationship with base 100, wipes pouch 130 isdisposed within a pouch space defined by the interior surfaces of base100 and refill door 102. In another embodiment, wipes may be disposeddirectly within the interior of dispenser 10 without first beingcontained in wipes pouch 130. A variety of wipe substrates and wetformulations can be used with wipes dispenser 10. Wipes having a varietyof wipe dimensions, substrate densities, folded stack dimensions,wipe-stack counts, stack weights are suitable for use with wipesdispenser 10.

FIG. 1D shows wipes dispenser 10 shown in FIG. 1C with refill door 102and dispensing lid 108 removed for a more complete view of wipes pouch130. FIG. 1E shows a perspective view of refill door 102 taken toward arefill door inside surface 140 of refill door 102. Referring to FIGS. 1DAnd 1E together, wipes pouch 130 defines a pouch aperture 134 at thefront of wipes pouch 130, through which wipes are removed. In oneembodiment, pouch aperture 134 is advantageously configured such that auser may readily grasp the front wipe from the web or stack of wipes(not shown) contained in wipes pouch 130 without the need to threadwipes through pouch aperture 134. A removable adhesive label (not shown)may cover pouch aperture 134 to prevent contamination of the wipes priorto use and to prevent dryout of wet or partially wetted wipes. In thisembodiment, the adhesive label is removed before placement of wipespouch 130 between refill door 102 and base 100.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up view of the portion of FIG. 1B circled in dottedline as 2′, showing a corresponding top gripper 118T and bottom gripper118B set. Referring to FIGS. 1B and 2 together, corresponding opposingtop gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B define a gap 270. The width ofgap 270 is slightly larger than the thickness of the wipes contained inwipes pouch 130 to allow passage of wipes through gap 270.

After wipes pouch 130 is placed in the pouch space at the interior ofwipes dispenser 10 as described above, the front wipe of the stack ofinterleaved wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 is grasped by a userthrough center lobe 116C of dispensing aperture 114 and through pouchaperture 134 (FIG. 1D) of wipes pouch 130. By application of anextraction force directed away from dispensing aperture 114 on thegrasped front wipe, a user commences extraction of the front wipe fromwipes pouch 130. During extraction, the front wipe a side portion of thewipe easily threads through gap 270 and contacts edges of one or both oftop gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B. As the wipe is furtherextracted through pouch aperture 134, dispensing aperture 114, andthrough gap 270 in contact with the edges of top gripper 118T andcorresponding bottom gripper 118B, frictional forces opposing the usersupplied extraction force are generated.

In one embodiment, the extraction force overcomes the aggreagate of aresisting pouch aperture force generated as a wipe is extracted incontact with the side edges of pouch aperture 134, a resistingdispensing aperture force generated as a wipe is extracted in contactwith the edges of dispensing aperture 114, and a resisting gap forcegenerated as a wipe is extracted in contact with the edges of top andbottom grippers 118T and 118B. Further, for interleaved wipes, theextraction force supplied by the user to the front wipe must also besufficient to overcome the interleaving forces between wipes in theinterleaved stack of wipes contained in wipes pouch 130.

Wipes dispenser 10 is designed with top and bottom grippers 118T and118L, respectively, to provide additional frictional gap force toprevent wipes from roping when dispensed. Top and bottom grippers 118Tand 118L, respectively, can come in any form that supplies sufficientfrictional gap force. In this design, top grippers 118T and bottomgrippers 18B, forming gap 270 through which wipes are extracted fromwipes dispenser 10, provide for wipes pop-up dispensing while preventingwipes roping and fall-back. At the same time, dispensing aperture 114and pouch aperture 134 provide enough open space to allow indexfinger/thumb access to grasp the front wipe.

Stacked wipes may be made to “pop-up” when the resisting frictionalforce, generated, in part, by top gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B,is sufficient to avoid, “roping” of the interleaved wipes. Further, fora roll of perforated wipes, by dispensing the web of perforated wipesthrough dispensing aperture 114 or, more particularly, through gap 270,singulation of wipes at the wipes separation perforations may beaccomplished.

Further, the overall contour of the dispensing aperture 114 presentsnumerous contact points that will readily engage and grip the surface ofa perforated web of wipes as a user pulls the wipe to the side ofdispensing aperture 114 at an angle. The wipe is readily torn from theweb at the perforation. Moreover, the configuration of dispensingaperture is such that only a portion of the wipe is caught by the sideedges of dispensing aperture 114 as it is being extracted. In theprocess of tearing and removing a wipe from the web, a portion of theremaining web is also pulled through dispensing aperture and remainsoutside dispensing aperture opposite the interior of wipes dispenser 10.This feature effectively prevents roping and fallback of the webmaterial.

In one embodiment, the resisting force generated by top gripper 118T andbottom gripper 118B at gap 270 is about 2 pounds force. When wipesdispenser 10 is mounted on mounting surface S, as shown in FIG. 1A,dispensing aperture 114 is oriented generally parallel to mountingsurface S, with the stack of wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 withinthe pouch space of wipes dispenser 10 between mounting surface S anddispensing aperture 114. In one embodiment, a mounting element 146,comprising double-sided stretch release adhesive tape, is design towithstand shear forces, i.e., forces parallel to the fixed surface aswould be generated by gravitational pull on wipes dispenser 10 attachedto a vertically oriented fixed surface S.

Stretch release adhesive tapes are also able to withstand tensile forcesdirected perpendicularly from fixed surface S, such as would begenerated on the stretch release adhesive tape by a user suppliedextraction force applied to a wipe. In one embodiment, the extractionforce is equal to or less than 2.5 lbs, as measured by extracting a wipeat a steady rate of 10 inches/second using a force gauge mounted on amovable platform or an Instron device. However, it is envisioned thatmore or less resisting force may be attained using the present inventionand the dispensing properties of the wipes. The extraction force shouldbe less than the tensile strength of the mounting element, to preventdetachment of wipes dispenser 10 from fixed surface S. In addition, theextraction force should be less than the tensile strength of the wipesto avoid unintended tears across the wipe.

Thus when configured as described, dispensing aperture causes the wipescontained in wipes pouch 130 to pop-up and present front edges ofsuccessive wipes, with no unintended wipes tearing or detachment ofwipes dispenser 10 from fixed surface S. If the wipes front edge fallsback or is pushed back into wipes dispenser 10, a user may repeat thegripping and extracting or the front wipe as described above to returndispenser to a pop-up mode.

FIGS. 3A-3D show a series of schematic edge outlines of alternativedispensing apertures 114 in accordance with the present invention. Ascan be seen in the FIGS., center lobe 116C, left side lobe 116L andright side lobe 116R, may vary in shape, including but not limited to,generally ovoid, circular, rectangular, and oval.

Referring again to FIG. 1B, in one embodiment, wipes pouch 130 furtherincludes a slider 132 on each of the left and right lateral sides ofwipes pouch 130. A pair of tracks (not shown) on a base inside surface133 of base 100 is adapted to slidably receive wipes pouch 130 at eachslider 132. When fully engaged in the tracks, wipes pouch 130 is securedwithin the pouch space defined by the inside surface of base 100 andrefill door 102 when refill door 102 is closed. In this manner, wipespouch 130 is secured to base 100 and advantageously remains in place,within the pouch space defined by refill door 102 closed to base 100,whenever a user extracts a wipe contained in wipes pouch 130.

Other means of securing wipes pouch 130 to dispenser 10 will be readilyapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, wipes pouch130 may be secured to dispenser 10 by means of mating fitment elements.Referring again to FIGS. 1D and 1E together, in one embodiment, wipespouch 130 includes a pouch fitment element 136 circumscribing pouchaperture 134. In this embodiment, pouch fitment element 136 is adaptedto mate and cooperate with a refill door fitment element 138 coupled torefill door inside surface 140. When loading wipes pouch 130 in thisembodiment, a user aligns and abuttingly contacts pouch fitment element136 on wipes pouch 130 with refill door fitment element 138 on refilldoor inside surface 140 to snap and secure wipes pouch 130 to refilldoor 102. In this manner, wipes pouch 130 advantageously remains inplace and substantially unmoved within the pouch space whenever a userextracts a wipe contained in wipes pouch 130. Alternatively, the backside of wipes pouch 130 opposite the aperture side of wipes pouch 130may be secured to inside surface 133 of base 100.

Other means of attaching wipes pouch 130 to refill door inside surface140 are possible, such as, for example, velcro tapes, suction cups,magnets, removable double-sided foam or other tapes. Such means ofsecuring wipes pouch 130 may be placed at the left and right lateraledges, top or bottom edges or back surface of wipes pouch 130. Inanother embodiment, the left and right lateral sides of wipes pouch 130are formed as gusseted edges (not shown), i.e., folded inward uponthemselves, to allow a tighter fit of wipes pouch 130 into the pouchspace defined when refill door 102 is closed with base 100. The top andbottom edges of wipes pouch 130 may be similarly formed.

Referring again to FIG. 1B, in one embodiment, one or more interfacesare formed by contacting rings, which are configured as ridges along thedispensing lid inside surface 122, with corresponding grooves. Theseinterfaces, formed from rings and corresponding grooves, seal thedispensing aperture 114 and prevent moisture loss from wet or partiallywetted wipes whenever dispensing lid 108 is closed on refill door 102.In one embodiment, an inner ring 124, is coupled to a dispensing lidinside surface 122 of dispensing lid 108. Inner ring 124 is configuredas a ridge projecting away from dispensing lid inside surface 122. Innerring 124 is adapted to abuttingly contact, mate, and cooperate withinner groove 120 to form an inner interface (not shown) wheneverdispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door102 (as shown in FIG. 1A). This inner interface seals dispensingaperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface112. An outer ring 125 is coupled to dispensing lid inside surface 122.Outer ring 125 is likewise configured as a ridge projecting fromdispensing lid inside surface 122. Outer ring 125 is adapted toabuttingly contact, mate and cooperate with outer groove 121 to form anouter interface (not shown) further sealing dispensing aperture 114 fromthe outside environment at refill door outside surface 112 wheneverdispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door102.

In other embodiments, more or fewer than two rings may be coupled todispensing lid inside surface 122 to abuttingly contact, mate andcooperate with corresponding grooves to form more or fewer than twointerfaces sealing dispensing aperture 114 from the outside environmentat refill door outside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placedin a closed relationship with refill door 102. Moreover, it isenvisioned in further embodiments that the one or more grooves, e.g.grooves 120, 121, may be formed on the dispensing lid inside surface122, while the one or more rings, e.g. rings 124,125, may be formed onthe refill door outside surface 112 to create the interfaces sealingdispensing aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill dooroutside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closedrelationship with refill door 102.

Wipes dispenser 10 according to the present invention thus avoids thenarrow slit-type aperture of the prior art. The wide-mouthedconfiguration of dispensing aperture 114 provides for easy access to thewipes in wipes pouch 130 disposed in the pouch space of dispenser 10without the need to pre-thread a front wipe in wipes pouch 130 throughdispensing aperture 114. Further, dispensing aperture 114 according tothe present invention avoids excessive squeeze-out of moisture in wetwipes.

The embodiments of the wipes dispenser of the present invention areillustrated in detail in the context of a mountable wipes dispenser anda flexible wipes pouch. The skilled artisan will readily appreciate,however, that the invention can be carried out by different equipment,materials and devices, and that various modifications, both as to theequipment and operating procedures, can be accomplished withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention itself. The materials,structures, and methods disclosed herein will have application in anumber of other contexts where convenient and easy dispensing of singlesheets of substrate material is desirable.

1. A wipes dispenser comprising: a base; a refill door coupled to saidbase, said refill door defining a dispensing aperture therethrough, saiddispensing aperture having a dispensing aperture length and a dispensingaperture width, wherein said dispensing aperture comprises: a centerlobe configured such that a user may readily grasp a front wipe from astack or web of wipes disposed in said dispenser through said dispensingaperture; and at least one side lobe in communication with said centerlobe at a side edge of said center lobe; wherein said refill doorfurther defines at least one top gripper projecting from a top edge ofsaid dispensing aperture; wherein said refill door further defines atleast one bottom gripper projecting from a bottom edge of saiddispensing aperture, each of said at least one bottom gripper beingopposite a corresponding one of said at least one top gripper, wherebyeach of said at least one top gripper and corresponding said at leastone bottom gripper define a gap through which said front wipe passeswhen extracted from said dispenser; and a pouch space defined by saidbase and said refill door.
 2. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 whereinsaid wipes dispenser is mounted to a fixed surface by a mounting elementhaving a tensile strength, wherein said tensile strength is greater thanan extraction force supplied by a user to extracxt said front wipe. 3.The wipes dispenser of claim 2 wherein said wipes dispenser isreleasably mounted to said fixed surface.
 4. The wipes dispenser ofclaim 2 wherein said extraction force is about two pounds force.
 5. Thewipes dispenser of claim 2 wherein said mounting element is stretchrelease adhesive tape.
 6. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 furthercomprising a stack of interleaved wipes disposed within said pouchspace.
 7. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 further comprising a roll ofperforated wipes disposed within said pouch space.
 8. The wipesdispenser of claim 1 further comprising a wipes pouch disposed withinsaid pouch space, said wipes pouch comprising a pouch aperture at afront of said wipes pouch, wherein said pouch aperture is configured toalign with said dispensing aperture.
 9. The wipes dispenser of claim 8further comprising a removable adhesive label covering said pouchaperture.
 10. The wipes dispenser of claim 8 wherein said wipes pouchcontains a stack of folded interleaved wipes having a folded wipeslength, a folded wipes width, and a wipes thickness.
 11. The wipesdispenser of claim 10 wherein said folded wipes length is about one halfof said dispensing aperture length.
 12. The wipes dispenser of claim 10wherein said folded wipes width is about one half of said dispensingaperture width.
 13. The wipes dispenser of claim 10 wherein a width ofsaid gap is less than said wipes thickness.
 14. The wipes dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein said dispenser is formed from a material selected fromthe group consisting of polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene(HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS),acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and engineered plastics.
 15. Thewipes dispenser of claim 1 wherein said center lobe is configuredgenerally in a shape selected from the group consisting of ovoid,circular, rectangular, and oval.
 16. The wipes dispenser of claim 1wherein said at least one side lobe is configured generally in a shapeselected from the group consisting of ovoid, circular, rectangular. 17.The wipes dispenser of claim 1 further comprising: one or more groovesformed as indentations into a refill door inside surface of said refilldoor; one or more corresponding rings formed as ridges projecting from adispensing lid outside surface of said dispensing lid; wherein each ofsaid one or more grooves abuttingly contacts, mates and cooperates witha corresponding one of said one or more rings to form one or moreinterfaces; and wherein said interfaces seal said dispenser aperturefrom the outside environment when said dispensing lid is in a closedrelationship with said refill door.
 18. A wipes dispenser comprising: abase; a refill door coupled to said base, said refill door defining adispensing aperture therethrough, said dispensing aperture having adispensing aperture length and a dispensing aperture width, wherein saiddispensing aperture comprises: a center lobe; and at least one side lobein communication with said center lobe at a side edge of said centerlobe; a pouch space defined by said base and said refill door; andwherein said dispensing aperture is configured such that, said centerlobe is wide enough to let through most sizes of a human index fingerand thumb to grasp said front wipe from a stack or roll of wipesdisposed within said pouch space.
 19. The wipes dispenser of claim 18wherein said dispensing aperture width is about 2 inches, measured froma top edge of said dispensing aperture to a bottom edge of saiddispensing aperture; and wherein said dispensing aperture length isabout 3.5 inches, measured from a left side edge of said dispensingaperture to a right side edge of said dispensing aperture.
 20. The wipesdispenser of claim 18 wherein said dispensing aperture width is betweenabout 0.75 inches and about 2.0 inches and said dispensing aperturelength is between about 3.0 inches and about 4.5 inches.
 21. The wipesdispenser of claim 18, said wipes dispenser being mounted to a fixedsurface whereby said front wipe may be extracted from said wipesdispenser with one human hand.
 22. A wipes dispenser comprising: a base;a refill door coupled to said base, said refill door defining adispensing aperture therethrough, said refill door and said basedefining a pouch space therebetween, and wherein said dispensingaperture comprises: a center lobe configured such that a user may, byapplication of an extraction force directed away from said dispenseraperture, extract a front wipe from a stack of interleaved wipescontained in a wipes pouch having a pouch aperture at a front of saidwipes pouch, said wipes pouch being disposed in said pouch space; and atleast one side lobe in communication with said center lobe at a sideedge of said center lobe; wherein said refill door further defines atleast one top gripper projecting from an top edge of said dispensingaperture; wherein said refill door further defines at least one bottomgripper projecting from a bottom edge of said dispensing aperture, andwhereby at least one top gripper and at least one bottom gripper definea gap through which said front wipe passes when extracted from saiddispenser.